I understand parents not allowing their young kids to watch certain movies or read certain books until they’re older. Some content of extreme violence or vulgar language can cause nightmares and negatively affect children. Restricting what content is accessible to children is for their own good; children will not take any lesson from that kind of content. Adults and teenagers on the other hand, can handle it. I don’t believe any content should be censored for adults. They can fight in wars, travel wherever they please and should be allowed to read any book ever written or movie ever made. Plus, adults and teenagers can choose what they read, watch and experience. Just because something is on the internet or in the world for anyone to see, doesn’t mean people have to watch it. The most important thing is that that people are given the choice.

The Harry Potter books are “wonderful stories that teach that love is the most powerful magic of all and that it's always right to stand up for your friends.” Is that priceless lesson not reason enough for an institution to overlook the “depiction of sorcery and witchcraft that [is] inappropriate for Christian readers?” Apparently not, according to a Catholic school in Massachusetts. I say that the prohibition of these books is depriving the children of the values of love and friendship and overall meaningful and imaginative novels instead of protecting them from the 'evils of sorcery.'

In an Illinoisan high school, The Canterbury Taleswas banned because of sexual content. In the real world, young adults will be exposed to sexual content and more. Why not expose it to them in an educated and open way in high school so they will be prepared for real life situations? Isn’t the point of high school to prepare the students for the real world?

A library in Colorado placed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a “locked reference collection” because a librarian believed the book “embraced a poor philosophy of life.” Little Red Riding Hood was banned in two California school districts because “ one of the refreshments that little Red Riding Hood was carrying to her grandmother was wine.”

While these are two of the more extreme and obviously ridiculous bans, the point I’m trying to make is still clear. Most forms of censorship are harmful, not helpful.

If reporters don’t give people all the information, unobstructed and unedited, then their audience, the general public, is being cheated out of their right to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Administrators taking 'questionable' books off of school reading lists hinders them from reading about a different perspective and hearing a story they’ve never heard before. Sheltering children from anything that could give them radical ideas does not make those ideas disappear. These types of censorship do substantially more harm than good.

I remember reading and watching Bridge to Terabithia in elementary school. I remember running up to my room to draw new creatures and magical beings and dream of what kind of tree houses I was going to build because it inspired me. I remember feeling profound grief when Leslie drowned, looking at her death from every character’s perspective and wanting to be the kid who stood up for her when she had been bullied. I wouldn’t have any of these memories had someone locked the book away. It has been banned for “offensive language… and disrespect towards authority figures,” two things which I do not remember it for. Even if I did, there were more important lessons to learn from that book than possible negative consequences. It broadened my mind, let me know that I don’t know what’s going on in other people’s lives and that making one lonely person feel loved is more important than caring about impressing a dozen judgmental people. If nothing else, I’d showed me what potential impacts books can have. If you search hard enough, you can find a reason to censor anything, but it doesn't mean you should.

There are other forms of censorship other than banning movies, books or restricting other content. There is also moral, military, political, religious and corporate censorship. As I do not have much experience with these, I tended to focus on what I do know. As I grow up more, I’m sure I’ll encounter most of these and will have new ideas and views on them. For now, here are the definitions.

Feel free to further inform yourself beyond this article. Knowledge is meant for everyone and necessary for intellectual and spiritual growth; don’t be afraid to go after it.